System Upgrade

Started by The Blueprint December 18th, 2009 4:49 PM
  • 857 views
  • 23 replies
Age 28
Male
England, UK
Seen December 3rd, 2012
Posted November 29th, 2012
430 posts
13.8 Years
I'm about to invest in a new computer this Christmas. Trouble is, I'm not completely clued up on everything. I am hoping to be able to run Oblivion on it in Max settings. My price range is around £400 - £500. Anything you guys would recommend?
I have found one system, just unsure if the Video Card is Powerful Enough -

PACKARD BELL X9610

Intel® Core 2 Quad Q8200 processor
(2.33GHz, 1333MHz FSB, 4MB Cache)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium
4GB DDR2 667MHz memory
768MB NVIDIA® GeForce 9600GS
640GB SATA hard drive (7200rpm)
Dual Layer DVD Rewriter
15-in-1 media card reader
8x USB, 2x IEEE 1394 FireWire® ports

Thanks in Advance.
I make music. Not very well, but I do make it. Check out my channel and let me know what you think, would be greatly appreciated :)

twocows

The not-so-black cat of ill omen

Age 32
Male
Michigan
Seen February 19th, 2023
Posted April 30th, 2021
4,307 posts
14.2 Years
I don't know many good sites for Europe, but you might want to try getting an Asus; I'm pretty fond of them, myself (you can't buy via their website, though). OFC, you'd be better off having one built for you; the parts will be cheaper and the computer more powerful. A 9600 should be able to handle Oblivion at max, though; the game came out a few years ago. And if it doesn't work, you can always upgrade the graphics card. The CPU will probably be the bottleneck, actually, since Oblivion isn't optimized for quad-core processors AFAIK.
VNs are superior to anime, don't @ me

Archer

NSW, Australia
Seen January 26th, 2020
Posted January 5th, 2020
3,956 posts
16.6 Years
Yeah, buying a pre-configured brand name PC is going to set you back far more than something of the equivalent specs from a computer shop. Plus, that way, you get exactly what you want, and they can give you a hand choosing.

Core 2 is beginning to phase out. If you've got the cash, run with an i7 or even an i5. Regardless, you might want a better base clock speed if you aren't going to overclock it. 2.3 GHz is a little... lackluster. Especially if you're playing anything that's not optimised for the quad core.
Age 28
Male
England, UK
Seen December 3rd, 2012
Posted November 29th, 2012
430 posts
13.8 Years
Well, I've just been out and bought one. :D
This is good enough for me even if it can't run it at full settings, it should run decently -

Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200
(2.33GHz, 4MB Cache)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium - For £70 Extra, they are upgrading it to Windows 7
4GB memory
1TB hard drive
512MB ATI Radeon HD4350
Blu-Ray player and DVD Rewriter
6x USB and 1x Firewire port
Media card reader

I've seen a few programs for Oblivion to help optimize it with Dual Core and Quad Core, so I'm sure I'll be able to squeeze out a descent Visual/Performance ratio with it.
I make music. Not very well, but I do make it. Check out my channel and let me know what you think, would be greatly appreciated :)

twocows

The not-so-black cat of ill omen

Age 32
Male
Michigan
Seen February 19th, 2023
Posted April 30th, 2021
4,307 posts
14.2 Years
Yeah, buying a pre-configured brand name PC is going to set you back far more than something of the equivalent specs from a computer shop. Plus, that way, you get exactly what you want, and they can give you a hand choosing.

Core 2 is beginning to phase out. If you've got the cash, run with an i7 or even an i5. Regardless, you might want a better base clock speed if you aren't going to overclock it. 2.3 GHz is a little... lackluster. Especially if you're playing anything that's not optimised for the quad core.
Core 2 is still worth buying, IMO. It's ridiculously cheaper and still performs roughly the same.

Well, I've just been out and bought one. :D
This is good enough for me even if it can't run it at full settings, it should run decently -

Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200
(2.33GHz, 4MB Cache)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium - For £70 Extra, they are upgrading it to Windows 7
4GB memory
1TB hard drive
512MB ATI Radeon HD4350
Blu-Ray player and DVD Rewriter
6x USB and 1x Firewire port
Media card reader

I've seen a few programs for Oblivion to help optimize it with Dual Core and Quad Core, so I'm sure I'll be able to squeeze out a descent Visual/Performance ratio with it.
E70 for a Win7 upgrade? Most computers come with a free upgrade to Win7, AFAIK, and there's no reason to pay that much to upgrade when Vista's already on it.
VNs are superior to anime, don't @ me
Age 28
Male
England, UK
Seen December 3rd, 2012
Posted November 29th, 2012
430 posts
13.8 Years
Core 2 is still worth buying, IMO. It's ridiculously cheaper and still performs roughly the same.


E70 for a Win7 upgrade? Most computers come with a free upgrade to Win7, AFAIK, and there's no reason to pay that much to upgrade when Vista's already on it.
I don't like Vista. It's slow, bloated and unstable. Everything about it is annoying and figity.
It was £70 because the PC was reduced and in the clearance section due to it having Windows Vista. It was £580 in total including a monitor, Windows 7, Norton 360 and they are installing it all for me. Seems a fair price to me, seeing as one of the computers of an equal standard but with only a 640GB Hard drive was £500 for just the base unit.

What kind of quality will I be looking at with that system?
I make music. Not very well, but I do make it. Check out my channel and let me know what you think, would be greatly appreciated :)

twocows

The not-so-black cat of ill omen

Age 32
Male
Michigan
Seen February 19th, 2023
Posted April 30th, 2021
4,307 posts
14.2 Years
I don't like Vista. It's slow, bloated and unstable. Everything about it is annoying and figity.
It was £70 because the PC was reduced and in the clearance section due to it having Windows Vista. It was £580 in total including a monitor, Windows 7, Norton 360 and they are installing it all for me. Seems a fair price to me, seeing as one of the computers of an equal standard but with only a 640GB Hard drive was £500 for just the base unit.

What kind of quality will I be looking at with that system?
Have you used Vista in the past year? It's not slow, bloated, or unstable. I haven't had a single system crash on any of my installs since before SP1, and that was a long time ago (it's on SP2 now). Sure, I disabled and removed a few things, but I did that with XP and my 7 test installs, too. A good portion of people that say Vista is bad are full of crap (see below).The amount of FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) spread about Vista is absurd, and all of it comes from a slightly shaky release, Microsoft haters, and people trying to run it on systems with below the minimum specs (which are extremely low by today's standards). On anything made in the past few years, it runs like a dream. I say this having been a Vista hater myself before I actually started using it (yes, I hated a product that I hadn't even used) and as a gamer with a framerate obsession (I'm using a mid-range laptop and still get ridiculous framerates on my games). I still have a preference for XP on older hardware thanks in part to nLite, but I use Vista on everything else now. 7 isn't any worse than Vista (other than the annoying new interface, which you can disable), but it certainly isn't much better from my experience, and definitely not as amazing and wonderful as everyone says it is (again, this is the Mojave effect; they basically re-branded the current version of Vista, made a few minor tweaks, and gave it a new interface, and now everybody loves it).

As for having Norton 360, why pay money up-front plus a monthly fee when you can get the roughly equivalent avast! Home Edition or Avira AntiVir Personal for the low, low price of free? Hell, even AVG is an option, despite the FUD starting to surround it (no, it's not as bad as everyone says, I still use it on some computers). As for installing it, just hit "next next next" and then (if you're using avast!), register at this link once a year. With the monitor, it's as simple as hooking up a cord.

I don't know about Europe, but here in the States I can get an $800 (559 EUR) ridiculously high-specc'd custom computer pre-made for me, or build my own for about $600 (419 EUR) or less. If I wanted something that just worked well and didn't, for instance, run Crysis on high, I could nearly cut both of those numbers in half.

Here are some statistics from the Mojave Experiment.
What do people think of Windows Vista when they don’t know it's Windows Vista? To find out, we disguised it as "the next Microsoft Operating System" codenamed, "Mojave" so regular people who've never used Windows Vista could see what it can do – and decide for themselves.
Primary Results

94% of respondents rated the “new operating system” codenamed Windows “Mojave” higher than they initially rated Windows Vista before
the demo.
0% of the respondents rated the “new operating system” codenamed Windows “Mojave” lower than they initially rated Windows Vista before
the demo.
Of the 140* respondents polled (on a scale of 1-10 where 10 was the highest rating):
  • The average pre-demo score for Windows Vista was 4.4
  • The average post-demo score for the “new operating system” codenamed Windows “Mojave” was 8.5
Many respondents said they would have rated the “new operating system” code-named Windows “Mojave” higher, but wanted more time
to play with it themselves.

Includes both 120 videotaped and 20 non-videotaped participants.
19% of respondents rated the “new operating system” code-named Windows “Mojave” a “10”
Types of Computer Users participating in the “Mojave Experiment:”
  • 84% Windows XP users
  • 22% Apple operating system users
  • 14% Pre-Windows XP users
  • 1% Linux users
  • Some users use multiple platforms.
Hardware used:
HP Pavilion dv2000 Entertainment Notebook PC series with 2GB RAM
VNs are superior to anime, don't @ me
Age 28
Male
England, UK
Seen December 3rd, 2012
Posted November 29th, 2012
430 posts
13.8 Years
Yes in-fact, I have used Vista, and coincidently, I am running it on the laptop I am currently on. I have used this laptop frequently enough since last year to have had a good enough experience with Vista to have developed a fair opinion. It's not like I'm judging Vista without even trying it. In my opinion, I prefer Xp, but as it's becoming more dated, decided to settle for Windows 7. It's not a decision I rushed into. I read many reviews and comparisons on Windows 7 before deciding on it. The reason I didn't settle for a custom built system was because I needed it in time for Christmas day, and with all the snow we are getting in the UK, that isn't looking likely. So yes, I have used Vista enough to have developed an opinion with good reason.
I make music. Not very well, but I do make it. Check out my channel and let me know what you think, would be greatly appreciated :)

twocows

The not-so-black cat of ill omen

Age 32
Male
Michigan
Seen February 19th, 2023
Posted April 30th, 2021
4,307 posts
14.2 Years
Yes in-fact, I have used Vista, and coincidently, I am running it on the laptop I am currently on. I have used this laptop frequently enough since last year to have had a good enough experience with Vista to have developed a fair opinion. It's not like I'm judging Vista without even trying it. In my opinion, I prefer Xp, but as it's becoming more dated, decided to settle for Windows 7. It's not a decision I rushed into. I read many reviews and comparisons on Windows 7 before deciding on it. The reason I didn't settle for a custom built system was because I needed it in time for Christmas day, and with all the snow we are getting in the UK, that isn't looking likely. So yes, I have used Vista enough to have developed an opinion with good reason.
Fair enough, but 70EUR is still too much to pay for that. You may want to look into this to see if the manufacturer will provide that upgrade for free. If not, there are... other methods to get it for free.
VNs are superior to anime, don't @ me

donavannj

Age 32
Male
'cause it get cold like Minnesota
Seen 6 Hours Ago
Posted 1 Week Ago
22,513 posts
18.2 Years
Yes in-fact, I have used Vista, and coincidently, I am running it on the laptop I am currently on. I have used this laptop frequently enough since last year to have had a good enough experience with Vista to have developed a fair opinion. It's not like I'm judging Vista without even trying it. In my opinion, I prefer Xp, but as it's becoming more dated, decided to settle for Windows 7. It's not a decision I rushed into. I read many reviews and comparisons on Windows 7 before deciding on it. The reason I didn't settle for a custom built system was because I needed it in time for Christmas day, and with all the snow we are getting in the UK, that isn't looking likely. So yes, I have used Vista enough to have developed an opinion with good reason.
I'm going to guess that you have Home Basic or Home Premium, which Microsoft messed up royally on. Vista on the whole was great... just not Home. Home is what I'm using here, but my experiences with Business and above were great.
whoops
Age 28
Male
England, UK
Seen December 3rd, 2012
Posted November 29th, 2012
430 posts
13.8 Years
Fair enough, but 70EUR is still too much to pay for that. You may want to look into this to see if the manufacturer will provide that upgrade for free. If not, there are... other methods to get it for free.
The PC was reduced in price because of the fact it had Vista installed. They where in the clearance section trying to get rid of them because they had Vista on. Think of it as taking your current PC for an upgrade. You would still have to Buy Windows 7, and seeing as that is selling for around £100 (110EUR & $160) £70 for it with setup included seems a very fair price to me.
I make music. Not very well, but I do make it. Check out my channel and let me know what you think, would be greatly appreciated :)

Rich Boy Rob

"Fezzes are cool." The Doctor

Age 29
Male
Seen March 15th, 2016
Posted August 15th, 2015
1,051 posts
14.9 Years
I'm going to guess that you have Home Basic or Home Premium, which Microsoft messed up royally on. Vista on the whole was great... just not Home. Home is what I'm using here, but my experiences with Business and above were great.
What's wrong with home? I have it here on my laptop and am loving it. I plan on upgrading at some point obviously, but I still don't see what's with all the vista hating, in fact, it runs better than the XP on my family's desktop PC.
In my pants!

donavannj

Age 32
Male
'cause it get cold like Minnesota
Seen 6 Hours Ago
Posted 1 Week Ago
22,513 posts
18.2 Years
What's wrong with home? I have it here on my laptop and am loving it. I plan on upgrading at some point obviously, but I still don't see what's with all the vista hating, in fact, it runs better than the XP on my family's desktop PC.
My issue with it is that it doesn't give me as the user enough control over user accounts (I have yet to figure out if I can even create a new user account for others who use my computer with Home - but I don't think I can). Other than that, it's far more stable.
whoops
Age 28
Male
England, UK
Seen December 3rd, 2012
Posted November 29th, 2012
430 posts
13.8 Years
In my personal opinion, the only thing I like about Vista are the visuals. Infact, I installed Vistamizer on my Xp desktop. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with Vista, I just prefer Xp after my experience with Vista, and yes, I'm running Home Premium. I just Hope Windows 7 doesn't disappoint me.
I make music. Not very well, but I do make it. Check out my channel and let me know what you think, would be greatly appreciated :)
Age 28
Male
England, UK
Seen December 3rd, 2012
Posted November 29th, 2012
430 posts
13.8 Years
Sounds good then. I honestly can't wait to try out Windows 7 after all the reviews I've read. Usually, OS's improve over time, as you have all said with Vista, so if the same is true with Win7, after how good it has been said to be, Windows 7 should be great once more people are running it and understand more about it.
I make music. Not very well, but I do make it. Check out my channel and let me know what you think, would be greatly appreciated :)

twocows

The not-so-black cat of ill omen

Age 32
Male
Michigan
Seen February 19th, 2023
Posted April 30th, 2021
4,307 posts
14.2 Years
Sounds good then. I honestly can't wait to try out Windows 7 after all the reviews I've read. Usually, OS's improve over time, as you have all said with Vista, so if the same is true with Win7, after how good it has been said to be, Windows 7 should be great once more people are running it and understand more about it.
Windows 7 is like Vista SP3 with a new theme. That's about all I can say for it.
VNs are superior to anime, don't @ me
Age 28
Male
England, UK
Seen December 3rd, 2012
Posted November 29th, 2012
430 posts
13.8 Years
I'm not sure what SP I'm running on this laptop. what are the differences in the 3 Vista Sp's?

Also, I know I'm going to need to upgrade from the HD 4350, but I'm unsure what to. I've heard the 4870 is very good, but I don't know where to get hold of one of those, and I would ideally like someone to install it or me.

Is the 4830 any good?
I make music. Not very well, but I do make it. Check out my channel and let me know what you think, would be greatly appreciated :)

twocows

The not-so-black cat of ill omen

Age 32
Male
Michigan
Seen February 19th, 2023
Posted April 30th, 2021
4,307 posts
14.2 Years
I'm not sure what SP I'm running on this laptop. what are the differences in the 3 Vista Sp's?

Also, I know I'm going to need to upgrade from the HD 4350, but I'm unsure what to. I've heard the 4870 is very good, but I don't know where to get hold of one of those, and I would ideally like someone to install it or me.

Is the 4830 any good?
There are two Vista service packs. Each one includes a number of security and performance updates that'll make your experience a lot smoother. You can check which service pack is installed by right-clicking computer and clicking "Properties." The latest service pack will be listed under the OS and copyright statement.

As for a graphics card, I personally prefer Nvidia over ATI. I recommend the GeForce GT 240, it should be more than sufficient for your needs and the price isn't through the roof (it's about $90 or 60 EUR, unless they price it different there).
VNs are superior to anime, don't @ me
Age 28
Male
England, UK
Seen December 3rd, 2012
Posted November 29th, 2012
430 posts
13.8 Years
Well, since the credit crunch, the Euro is about the same as the Pound.
I prefer ATI to be honest. They work much better with Oblivion than nVidia. That's all I know about Video cards really, except the more MB the better, but that's not always the case.
I make music. Not very well, but I do make it. Check out my channel and let me know what you think, would be greatly appreciated :)

twocows

The not-so-black cat of ill omen

Age 32
Male
Michigan
Seen February 19th, 2023
Posted April 30th, 2021
4,307 posts
14.2 Years
Well, since the credit crunch, the Euro is about the same as the Pound.
I prefer ATI to be honest. They work much better with Oblivion than nVidia. That's all I know about Video cards really, except the more MB the better, but that's not always the case.
Oblivion ran fine on my 9500M, and I'm sure the newer 240 will have no problems with it.
VNs are superior to anime, don't @ me
Age 28
Male
England, UK
Seen December 3rd, 2012
Posted November 29th, 2012
430 posts
13.8 Years
What setting where you running it in?

And I'll extend my searches to include nVidia cards, but most of the people at the official forums recommend ATI. Also, I think ATI is a more sensible option seeing as the current card is an ATI. Don't know if that affects anything but. . .
I make music. Not very well, but I do make it. Check out my channel and let me know what you think, would be greatly appreciated :)

twocows

The not-so-black cat of ill omen

Age 32
Male
Michigan
Seen February 19th, 2023
Posted April 30th, 2021
4,307 posts
14.2 Years
What setting where you running it in?

And I'll extend my searches to include nVidia cards, but most of the people at the official forums recommend ATI. Also, I think ATI is a more sensible option seeing as the current card is an ATI. Don't know if that affects anything but. . .
I was running on medium, but that's because I'm a framerate junkie and I like smooth pictures. Also, the chipset manufacturer shouldn't affect things too much, but if you really want an ATI, look for one roughly equivalent to a GeForce 240 or 250.
VNs are superior to anime, don't @ me
Age 28
Male
England, UK
Seen December 3rd, 2012
Posted November 29th, 2012
430 posts
13.8 Years
I was running on medium, but that's because I'm a framerate junkie and I like smooth pictures. Also, the chipset manufacturer shouldn't affect things too much, but if you really want an ATI, look for one roughly equivalent to a GeForce 240 or 250.
I do ideally want to run in High settings, and Ideally with some graphics mods. That should be no problem with the other specs. Just the Graphics card I need to sort out.
I make music. Not very well, but I do make it. Check out my channel and let me know what you think, would be greatly appreciated :)